Fiddler Hoyt "Floyd" Ming led a Mississippi family band called the Pep-Steppers. With Rozelle Ming on guitar and Troy Ming on mandolin, the Pep-Steppers played dances and fairs around Tupelo during the '20s. After auditioning for Ralph Peer at a drug store, the band recorded several sides for Victor during 1928. The Mings continued performing regionally into the '50s, and although Hoyt also worked as a potato farmer for most of his life, the group's inclusion on Harry Smith's 1952 folksong compendium Anthology of American Folk Music generated enough enthusiasm for Ming to re-form the group in the '60s. The Pep-Steppers played the National Folk Festival in 1973, and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival one year later. ~ John Bush